Authors at the Winter Institute

novelbooks Sun, 01/23/2011 - 9:31pm

The Winter Institute is a bookseller conference that brings publishers and authors together for a few days to talk about new books. This is similar to other national and regional conferences and trade shows, but the Winter Institute is an intense series of educational sessions for booksellers. There are five tracks of three sessions each, or fifteen sessions each day. Since I can only go to three each day, it means I have to get reviews of the other sessions from other booksellers at the breakfasts and luncheons. I should mention that the meals are also filled with presentations and publisher reps talking about their books. The Winter Institute ended Friday and I'm now coherent enough to report on the author reception after Thursday's sessions.

I had to leave early for a dinner with fellow NAIBA members, but met with a number of authors. These books are previews of releases for 2011. Some titles will display as not yet printed, others will be pre-orders, and many will be available as Google e-books. Remember to buy Google e-books through this website to have the order count for me. There were about 60 authors in attendance, so this is a long list.

Dean Bakopoulos, My American Unhappiness: A Novel, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
I read his book before Wi6 and enjoyed it very much. I commented about it on Twitter and he remembered them and thanked me for my early support. It probably helped that I was wearing a button with my Twitter name on it. Dean is a former bookseller and professor at Iowa State University.The link to this title says it's out of print, but it will be released June 7, 2011.

Noah Boyd, Agent X, Morrow
I didn't meet him at the reception, but picked up this book in the Galley Room. The Galley Room is where booksellers can pick up Advanced Reviewer Copies (ARC's) to preview new releases.

Marcia Clark, Guilt By Association, Mulholland Books (Hachette Book Group)
I wanted to meet her, mostly for the celebrity aspect, but I hear it's a good book. I didn't get an ARC and will try to get a copy from Mulholland.

Jennet Conant, A Covert Affair: The Adventures of Julia Child and Paul Child in the OSS, Simon & Schuster

Alison Fitzgerald, In Too Deep: BP and the Drilling Race That Took It Down, Wiley
Even though Alison Fitzgerald is an investigation reporter in D.C., I couldn't imagine her getting involved in a story about the scandal. It sounds sexist, but the media appears, with rare exception, to assign the field investigation to men. It turns out nearly all the investigation took place through the large amount of documentation. Alison Fitzgerald won the Polk award for her coverage of the financial crisis and government rescue of the banking industry. Stanley Reed is a specialist on the Middle East and the oil industry. He's covered BP for more than a decade.

Dan Gutman, The Genius Files: Mission Unstoppable, HarperCollins Children's Books
I picked this up in the Galley Room, but couldn't get to the author's table. It looks like a book my niece will enjoy. I'm thinking there's going to be some controversy over ad placement and encouraging children to eat fast food. This is a story about Coke McDonald and his twin sister, Pepsi. A new series that should be as good as any of his multiple publications.

Deborah Harkness, A Discovery of Witches: A Novel, Viking
Another Galley Room pick. This is book one of the All Souls trilogy. The second book will be out in 2012. A Discovery of Witches is a contemporary novel with history, magic, romance and suspense.

Rachel Moore Hawkins, Demonglass: A Hex Hall Novel, Hyperion Books for Children
You can tell Rachel Hawkins enjoys writing her stories. All authors do, but I'm trying to get a better understanding of young adult novels. I spent time at the reception asking these authors about age range and details of their books. Rachel had a glint in her eye that may explain why some of her former high school students thought she was a witch.

Tayari Jones, Silver Sparrow, Algonquin Books
I really regret missing her at the reception and not getting her book. I recently followed her on Twitter and wanted to talk with her about some of the conversations. She posted a great blog for those who still enjoy the bookstore experience.

Melissa Kantor, The Darlings Are Forever, Hyperion Books For Children
A pre-teen, early teen novel as told to me by Melissa. A story of three high school girls growing up and trying to keep their friendship together. It's a refreshing change from the vampire, witches, zombie stories of late.

Janet Lee and Jim McCann, Return of the Dapper Men, Archaia (Diamond Book Distributors)
Jim looked very dapper, and Janet used a special two-nibbed pen to sign the book. I fell in love with the book after discovering Steampunk in 2010 with Cherie Priest's Clementine. This is a beautifully illustrated book by Janet Lee, and a wonderful story for young chiildren. I mention Cherie Priest because I asked Janet and Jim if they knew any distributors of Steampunk merchandise, and they suggested I talk to Cherie. I also spent an inordinate amount of time talking with the Diamond Book rep. We've been talking for a few years about setting up an account and a grahic novel store display, if I ever open a store. That looks like it will happen very, very soon.

Tom Lichtenheld, Cloudette, Holt Books for Young Readers
A delightful story about a small cloud from an author with a big imagination. Similar to the Little Engine That Could, it's a great motivation story for young readers.

Kee Malesky, All Facts Considered: The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge, Wiley
So I ask Kee Malesky what knowledge is inessential, and she says it's the different way people think about facts, faith, and interpretation of history. What is essential to one person, is inessential to someone else. If that's hard to follow, I'm sure Kee will explain it in her book.

Jennifer McMahon, Don't Breathe a Word, Harper Paperbacks
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, having received it a few weeks before the conference. I made a point to meet Jennifer and tell her about it. When I first saw the cover, I thought it was young adult, but started to read it in preparation of Wi6. Jennifer agrees about the cover, but it is not young adult, given the opening pages. It's a story about a missing girl, fairies, mysteries, and suspense. The chapters switch back and forth, between the missing girl's life and fifteen later, when her brother and his girlfriend start to find clues to her disappearance.

Joseph O'Connor, Ghost Light: A Novel, Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Another frustrating miss to meet an author. Joseph O'Connor, an Irish author, writing about Edwardian Dublin, which is one of my favorite settings. It's amazing how time flies when there are so many authors at one time. I did get the book from the Galley Room, but wanted to get it autographed.

Bob Phibbs, The Retail Doctor's Guide to Growing Your Business, Wiley
I haven't read his book, but he gave a presentation at one of the Wi6 breakfasts and it was incredible. A lot of common sense that people tend to forget, and some great tips to improve the customer experience at a store. I could blog on this alone. I took a moment to get Bob to sign my book, and told him about a marketing idea of mine, which he loved and wants to hear the results. He was also kind enough to answer a display question I've been mulling over. I'm looking forward to reading his book.

Beth Revis, Across the Universe, Razorbill (Penguin Books for Young Readers)
I picked the book up in the Galley Room, and didn't get to the author, but I regret that now. Some of my friends on Twitter were talking about a preview of this book, and I reviewed it for them. It seemed a bit confusing at the beginning about how old Amy, the primary character was, but the general story didn't seem significantly different from other space travel novels. My review turned off a few of my friends, and I forgot about it until I came across the book at Wi6. I wish now I talked with her to get a better feel for the story, but I will read it. If I'm wrong, I'll do a hard handsell and apologize to Beth. This is her first novel.

Jon and Pam Voelkel, The Jaguar Stones, Book Two: The End of the World Club, Egmont
I had to stop at the table and meet this couple. For one thing, they were dressed in safari clothing. Secondly, they had a pair of authentic pith helmets sitting on top of the books. Jon explained how and why pith helmets were created. These young reader books sound adventurous and fun. I was able to pick up the first book in the series, Middleworld. When they sign their books, Jon stamps it with an Aztec symbol of their names. I might be able to get them from Vermont to D.C. for a signing.

Binyavango Wainaina, One Day I Will Write About This Place, Graywolf Press